Twelve years after Americans were stripped of their rights in the name of fighting terrorism, thousands have gathered in Washington DC to protest unconstitutional NSA spying programs revealed by Edward Snowden, and call for repeal of the Patriot Act.

Stop Watching Us campaign demands reform of “Section 215 of
the USA PATRIOT Act, the state secrets privilege, and the FISA
Amendments Act to make clear that blanket surveillance of the
Internet activity and phone records of any person residing in the
US is prohibited by law and that violations can be reviewed in
adversarial proceedings before a public court.”

Protesters also demand the creation of an investigative committee
charged with reporting the extent of domestic spying and enact
regulatory reform. Organizers also want to hold accountable those
public officials who are found to be responsible for
“unconstitutional surveillance.”

United under a banner reading “Thank You Snowden”
thousands lined the Capitol to hear a statement by former NSA
contractor read out.

“Today, no telephone in America makes a call without leaving a
record with the NSA. Today, no Internet transaction enters or
leaves America without passing through the NSA’s hands. Our
representatives in Congress tell us this is not surveillance.
They’re wrong,” Snowden said in a statement read out by
Former US Department of Justice ethics adviser, Jesselyn Radack.
“This is about the unconstitutional, unethical, and immoral
actions of the modern-day surveillance state and how we all must
work together to remind government to stop them. It’s about our
right to know, to associate freely, and to live in an open
society,” Snowden said.

Twelve large boxes of 575,000 petition signatures were shown to
the crowd at the foot of the US Capitol.

Glenn Greenwald, the journalist who worked with Edward Snowden to
expose many of the NSA’s surveillance procedures attended the
rally.

“It is very important that people speak out, take action,
march, rally demonstrate against these practices of the
government,” anti-war activist Richard Becker told RT.
“What can really bring a change is the actions of the
people,” he said, stressing that “none of the progressive
changes” in the history of the US have ever been
“originated inside the Congress or in the White House”.

Congressional representative Justin Amash told the crowd that
bringing his anti-NSA bill in July to Congress was his proudest
moment as an elected official.
“We’re going to keep fighting and we’re going to pass something
to rein in the NSA,” he said, adding that the “NSA is
fighting back, the establishment is fighting back.”

Former politicians Representative Dennis Kucinich of Ohio and
former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson also attended the
anti-NSA protest.
"The government has granted itself power that it does not
have," said Johnson. "We have to stand against this."

“Our own government has become a threat to freedom, at home and
abroad,” said former Congressman, Dennis Kucinich.

Whistleblower Thomas Drake in addressing the crowd said that he
was fortunate not end up in prison. “The last thing a free and
open society needs is a digital fence around us,” Drake said.
He called for the restoration of the Fourth Amendment and said
that NSA surveillance "engenders fear and erodes our
freedom."

Two days before the march the US Department of Defense published
a YouTube interview with NSA Director and CYCOM
Commander General Keith Alexander trying to justify the agency's
programs. So far less than 2 percent of viewers agree with
Alexander’s reasoning for the need for total surveillance and
spying on own citizens to protect national security.

A day after the release, the website for the US National Security
Agency suddenly went offline in what some claimed was an Anonymous
DDoS attack. Twelve hours later the NSA however said it was due
to a technical problem during a routine software update, denying
it was under attack.

The Edward Snowden leaks have exposed that NSA not only spied on
public records but also on data mined from personal
communications of world leaders, including Latin American
presidents and European leaders - even those who are considered
to be US allies, like German Chancellor Angela Merkel who was on
NSA spy list since 2002, according to latest
revelations.